Utes

An American company is working on a solar-panelled tonneau cover for ute tubs. Worksport announced the Terravis product is currently in development, and has been designed with future fully-electric pick-ups in mind. But the solar array can also charge batteries fitted to any vehicle, giving outdoor enthusiasts and builders a way to power their devices when they're off-grid. MORE: Now is the time for more full-size US trucks to be made available in Australia

Ford is urgently trying to address stock shortages of the Ranger ute in the lead up to June 30 – customarily the biggest month of the year for ute sales – after its two Thailand factories paused production for six weeks due to the coronavirus crisis. Some dealers are running out of Ford Rangers because the market has recovered faster than anticipated in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdowns, while others have plentiful supplies.

One of the world’s leading car designers has called the Tesla Cybertruck a "perfect design". François Leboine, the boss of concept car design at French auto giant Renault, bestowed the accolades on Tesla’s striking and revolutionary design for a ute during a video conference with Australian journalists.

The Hyundai Santa Cruz ute has been photographed during cold weather testing in Sweden. This latest prototype is wearing the same amount of camouflage as the vehicle spotted back in December, but this time around we can see the car from a great number of angles and tease out a few extra details.